May 18th, 2014 by Adam Armstrong

ADATA XPG SDXC UHS-I U3 Memory Card Review (64GB)

The ADATA XPG SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) is a SD memory cards for top-end camera work. The ADATA XPG card has read/write speeds of 95/85MB with a minimum constant write speed of 30MB/s allowing efficient large file transfer and editing speeds. Not only does the ADATA XPG card have fast speeds they also come in a good capacity to ensure uninterrupted photography and video recording.

As technology moves from Full HD to Ultra HD (4K2K), professionals and enthusiasts need storage that has both high capacity and the performance abilities to support the new speeds. ADATA's memory card offers a marriage of both capacity (they can store up to 8 hours of full HD, 1080p, video or 80 minutes of Ultra HD) and performance (currently the fastest on the market). Not only do the cards have good capacities and fast speeds they also come with built-in write-protection, automatic error correcting code, and they are highly durable: being water proof, shock proof, magnet proof, x-ray proof, and extreme temperatures. The ADATA XPG can support the latest 4K2K digital cameras and camcorders.

Using our Consumer Testing Platform, we measured transfer speeds from the ADATA XPG memory card, which gave us sequential speeds of 94.1MB/s read and 81.3MB/s write. Basically it performed right around their claimed speeds. Comparing these speeds to the other SD cards, the XPG was much faster than both of the Samsung cards (the 64 GB SD PRO having sequential speeds of 87.4MB/s read and 75.8MB/s write; while the EVO had speeds of 19.0MB/s read and 44.6MB/s write). It was faster than the ADATA Premier Pro as well (a step down in performance class), which had sequential speeds of 90.3MB/s read and 65.3MB/s write.

Switching to random large-block transfers, we measured 56.8MB/s read and 9.1MB/s write. These were much lower and came in under the Samsung cards: the 64GB SD PRO having 81.6MB/s read and 18.1MB/s write and the EVO had 44.0MB/s read and an impressive 31.6MB/s write. Again it came in over the ADATA Premier Pro as expected, which measured 56.4MB/s read and 2.4MB/s write.

Conclusion

The ADATA XPG SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) is a high speed SD memory card with a good capacity. The memory card is compatible with the latest ultra HD (4K2K) cameras and camcorders. And it is highly durable being water, x-ray, extreme temperature, magnet, and shock proof.

When it came time to test the ADATA XPG SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) card, it performed well. Sequential speeds were right around were ADATA claimed: 94.1MB/s read and 81.3MB/s write for the 64GB, 95/85MB being the claim. Switching over to large-block random transfer saw a big drop in speed, even falling behind Samsung's new midrange EVO memory card. Intrafamily, the XPG gives up top end capacity when compared to the ADATA Premier Pro, but as expected the XPG posts faster throughput.

Pros

Currently the fastest sequential speed on the market for SD cards

Durable, well made

Cons

Slower random transfer speeds

Limited to 64GB of capacity

The Bottom Line

The ADATA XPG SDXC UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3) is the highest performing SD memory card currently on the market in sequential workloads; it is ideal for professionals and enthusiasts using new ultra HD cameras.